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The champs are still alive.
Facing their largest second-half deficit of the season against an Ohio State team that found and exploited all their weaknesses, the Georgia Bulldogs mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally to win the Peach Bowl, 42-41, and advance to the College Football Playoff championship game for the third time in school history. After waiting 40 years between national titles, Georgia will face TCU on Jan. 9 trying to become the first program to go back-to-back since Alabama in 2011 and 2012.
And the play that helped launch them there might have been — of all things — a timeout.
Trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter and expecting to get the ball back, Georgia coach Kirby Smart sniffed out a fake punt and got a timeout called just before Ohio State snapped the ball on what would have been a first down for the Buckeyes.
Instead, Georgia got the ball back and scored on the very next play, a 75-yard pass from senior quarterback Stetson Bennett to a wide open Arian Smith. After holding Ohio State to a 48-yard field goal with 2:43 remaining, Georgia got the ball back needing just a touchdown to win.
And Bennett, who struggled for much of the third quarter, delivered. Driving the Bulldogs 72 yards in five plays, Bennett found Adonai Mitchell in the left corner of the end zone with 54 seconds remaining. The only question was whether Georgia actually left Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud too much time.
Stroud drove the Buckeyes into scoring position, but kicker Noah Ruggles badly shanked a 50-yard field goal well left of the uprights with three seconds left, allowing Georgia to escape.
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Here are three observations from the Bulldogs’ win: Stetson Bennett struggled until it mattered most
The Bulldogs’ senior quarterback has been in a lot of big games and played well in them, including last year when they beat Alabama for the national championship.
